


Shockwave's Debt

by WhirlyBeeTheBot



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Fluff and Angst, I will destroy this man, M/M, Shockwave is the same age as Bee dont make this gross I will take ur kneecaps, shockwave is gonna have such a bad time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21855475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhirlyBeeTheBot/pseuds/WhirlyBeeTheBot
Summary: Shockwave owes a lot to the Decepticon overlord Megatron and finally, after many upon many megacycles, Megatron has given him a way to pay him back;a mission for him as an Autobot spy.But is this all going to be worth it? Shockwave fears it won't as he delves deeper than he ever should've into the new life he's created for himself. Longarm was nothing but a lie to achieve such a simple goal, but he is growing into more than Shockwave ever wanted him to. As he gains new relationships with new friends and more through Longarm, he mutates into something far more than just the mask Shockwave wears to pay Megatron back.But Shockwave must be true to his word and pay back his debts... But how far will he have to go to do that?
Relationships: Bumblebee/Longarm Prime | Shockwave, Bumblebee/Shockwave, Ironhide/Wasp, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 9
Kudos: 55





	1. Welcome to Iacon

Iacon was as busy as it usually was, bots coming in and out and everyone scrambling to get to work, school, or Swerve’s. Cars and trucks driving around, honking and talking amongst each other while the skies remained an empty void. Neon lights rimmed the dark buildings and a deep blue light gently coated the planet. The sky was clear for all to see, the stars and galaxies around their planet shone brightly as they normally did in the mornings here.

Or so Shockwave has heard…

The Decepticon stood at the train station, looking over his new frame again and again. It felt almost disorienting to see his once purple frame now turquoise and grey with no antenna, no tiny waist or seams, and no claws. Instead, he had a chubby frame with a normal face, normal hands, and a mouthguard. The handle of his wheeled traveling bag was held tightly in his hand.

 _It’s strange but I’ll manage_ , he thought. He looked over his datapads, again and again, trying to learn as much as he could about how to act like a normal Autobot. The usual polite greetings and the right words to use to speak to others were nothing new to him-- he’d be fine there at least.

His audials kept trying to pull his mouthguard apart to perk up and observe all his surroundings best they could. All around him buzzed with life, bots saying goodbye to others, excited chatter of “new lives”, “new sights”, and “new cities”.  
For him, it was all a new mission, but he’d be lying if he said the idea of actually being able to walk in Iacon, as if he were a citizen, didn’t make his spark feel warm and fuzzy with excitement. He put his datapads back in his bag just in time as right after, a loud beeping noise alerted him to the fact his train arrived.  
With a deep breath, Shockwave boarded the train in front of him.  
Most of the glass train was rimmed with metal painted a golden yellow and dark blue stripes. When he stepped in, he saw the interior was an almost pastel yellow.  
The shine of the unpainted metal rims was very apparent as he sat on one of the chairs. Ignoring the other passengers, he gently wheeled his bag in front of him and looked around. Screens were littered throughout the train, some just on the side of the chairs, most likely for announcements, or maybe to play music? Shockwave didn’t know which. What kind of train even had screens?

He crossed his legs, sighing and thinking, _maybe that’s just normal here_. A deeply uncomfortable feeling settled in his stomach as he looked around. Autobot symbols were all around him, yet it felt weird that no one seemed to pay much attention to him. Shaking his head, Shockwave reminded himself of his new form and frame.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about him for now.

The doors seemed to just be closing, offering Shockwave relief, as no one had sat by him. The sudden screeching of tires made his audials flinch. Turning around to look at what had happened, he paused seeing a yellow Autobot run over and sit by his side, an Energon treat poking out of his mouth. He stared as the tiny bot shoved the fuel down his intake-- making a mess on his face in the process-- and then panted heavily.

Right after he’d sat down, the train started and the buildings around them blurred and became smaller and smaller shapes in the distance. Talk about a close call...

The Autobot was small. His frame was coated a bright yellow with black racing stripes, and his helm had two round horns on them. His optics were wide and a bright blue. He was obviously a car, with two little door wings, two of his tires on his heels and the other two as his shoulders.  
His chest had a large glass window on it, though it was tinted so Shockwave couldn’t see if he was storing anything in it.

Finally, the yellow bot caught his breath and their gazes met.  
“Hello!” the Autobot said. His optics lit up and he put on a casual smile as if he hadn't just attempted to swallow a piece of Energon whole.

“Hello… looks like some bot was hungry…” Shockwave stated, unsure of what to say. He didn’t mean to sound so monotone, but the Autobot didn’t even seem to notice as he chuckled, “Pshhh, yeah, I was in a bit of a rush because I got up late and had to pack all my things, and then I had to drink my Energon, but I also wanted an Energon treat so I went down to Tasmos and bought one, and then I panicked thinking I’d miss the train, but luckily for me, I’m the fastest Autobot ever! So, I made it just in time and pulled off, like, the coolest last minute entering ever! Did you see it? It was super cool!”

Shockwave just nodded. Honestly, he had never heard such a talkative bot. Not to mention he made the coolest _entrance_ , not entering. Simple grammar but he butchered it right there. He didn’t even give him a name before telling Shockwave his story.

“So, can I have your name?” Shockwave asked and the other bot paused clearly not realizing he hadn't introduced himself. “Oops! I’m B- 127!” He took Shockwave’s hand and shook it with an energy Shockwave had never seen in anything as simple as a handshake.  
“Oh, you don’t have a name?” Shockwave asked, though he just suspected whatever name B-127 did have had slipped his mind.

“Nope! I was born in a batch like most minibots. In the place I was at, you’d be really lucky if you got a name before going to boot camp.” B-127 said with a smile as if what he had said didn’t sound super horrifying. Shockwave’s face must’ve expressed his shock as B-127 seemed pretty startled by his reaction.

“I mean, I wasn’t even born in that batch, I belonged to another, but my mother abandoned me, so they just kinda threw me where they could. I guess they didn’t want to name me because that responsibility usually goes to the mother and that’d be awkward I can understand me keeping my serial code. I mean. I wasn’t their kid and they weren’t really my mom, so it makes sense.” B-127 paused looking back to Shockwave. He forced himself to blink and shook his helm.

“I’m sorry I’ve just never heard of anything like that before… I’m new in town…” he said with a shrug.

“Oh, I guess you probably don't have a name either do ya? What if I call you…” B-127 scanned Shockwave's body with his optics before they caught sight of his arms “Streeeeetchhhh…..”

Shockwave blinked, then chuckled. It was childish, but he supposed he could get used to it, and the Autobot’s smile showed he was proud of it, so no point arguing.

“Alright, I’ll just call you B then,” Shockwave said, smiling. Just then, the train stopped and up on the screen to the left, it called for those heading to Quartex.

“Oh, this is my stop!” B spoke up. Shockwave paused. He extended his arm and grabbed the paper shoved in the pocket of his traveling bag. _What? That can’t be right._ It read Quartex. Shockwave got up grabbing his bag as he saw B and all the other bots quickly leaving, with B just outright running. He ran over to B’s side and B slowed to a walk. His blue optics widened as he turned to Shockwave.  
“Woah, did I leave something in there?” Without waiting for a reply B searched himself and his items making sure he had it all until Shockwave gently grabbed his hand. “No, no. I just saw we were both heading for Quartex.”  
“Woah, really? Cool!”  
Shockwave blinked. “Cool” was not the word he’d use to describe it; an _“unlikely phenomenon”_ seemed more fitting to him, but B seemed happy about it, so perhaps it didn’t matter.  
B suddenly grabbed his hand. “Well come on! No point being there on time when we can be there early!” Shockwave grabbed his bag just seconds before B broke into a run again. Shockwave struggled to keep up. How could such a small frame hold so much energy? he thought as he was practically dragged towards their destination.

Shockwave also had no idea how such a small processor could hold so many thoughts. B’s chatter must’ve gone on for mega-cycles as Shockwave narrowed down exactly where he-- or they-- were going. Finally, he stopped in front of a long, walled off, set of buildings.

_The boot camp…._

Shockwave turned around to see that B had finally silenced himself. His optics searched the buildings as he pulled a piece of paper similar to Shockwave’s out of his chest. _No way…_ Shockwave thought. As B’s optics widened, he knew exactly what he had realized, even before B shoved the paper in his face.

It was the same address. Shockwave didn’t even have to check. He recognized it instantly!  
“That’s super cool!” B exclaimed, and before Shockwave could get a word in, he dashed towards the largest building of the bunch.  
Shockwave just stood there, half stuck in shock over the fact he was finally here and half that he now officially knew a bot he was going to be going to boot camp with before he even walked in.

“Hey! You coming?” B called about halfway to the largest of the grey buildings. Shockwave assumed that would be where they’d recharge.

He nodded to B and began to chase after him. Of course, B quickly started even more giddy rambling and Shockwave huffed. _Oh well. Best get used to it._

It seemed they’d be spending a lot of time together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I'm super proud of how this came out! And I Love Shockbee to bits and I've actually had this story planned for Forever so it's so relieving to finally post the first chapter which as I said I'm super proud of! Shout out to my friend Stars for helping me get the grammar right and reviewing it for errors they're amazing and I love them.  
> And I hope You guys like it too! If you do please comment and tell me! I'd love to know! Any kudos is appreciated too!  
> Whirly Out!


	2. Welcome Cadets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> B and Shockwave get a tour alongside the other cadets who introduce themselves as Seawire, a cyan minibot with attitude and Bronze a large bot with an ego.  
> They meet Sentinal who doesn't seem to have his heart in the whole being a Sargent thing and Cliffjumper his assistant who seems to be trying his best with what he's been given.

Shockwave had been correct.

Inside the building were rows of berths, each with a thin blanket and pillow. He carefully examined the room and put his bag by the entrance. As he looked up, he saw B who was looking around as well.

“Look! We get a bed all to ourselves!” he said, feeling the blanket on one of the berths with his servos.

Shockwave chuckled. “Yes, most bots usually have one before they’re in Bootcamp.”B blinked and looked at him, a surprised expression on his face.

He walked around a bit before stopping at the bed just left of the entrance.

“I call this one!” B declared climbing onto the berth and laying there.

Shockwave smiled, shaking his head, he picked up his things and put them beside the berth right next to B’s.

Shockwave sat on his berth and laughed as B, in the middle of tried to wrap himself in the blanket, rolling right off his berth. And hitting the floor with a clang.

“H-hey! What’re you laughing at?” B said, struggling to untangle himself from the blanket.

“What do you think I was laughing at?” Shockwave replied, raising an optic ridge.

B untangled himself and huffed, looking at Shockwave, before glaring at the cloth.

“Stupid blanket,” he grumbled, picking it up and putting it back on the berth. Shockwave smiled at him and B turned to smile back.

Shockwave nearly jumped as the door was suddenly opened and two new bots walked in.

One looked to be B’s same frame, but he had sharp blue eyes and no pupils. His frame was dark cyan with yellowish-tan highlights. He too had a mouthguard, or perhaps it was just a weird jaw, and his face was sharper than B’s too. It had a diamond shape to it.

The second one was a tall, broad-shouldered mech with orange armor. He had a large crest on his helm and small optics. His muscles were defined and his chin looked stupid.

They both were smirking as they looked around.

“Hello there. You must be the other recruits,” Shockwave greeted, offering a polite smile.

“And what does that make you two? Janitors?” the cyan bot sneered, setting his stuff on the berth just across from B’s.

“Yeah! What does that make you?” the larger bot said. He set his stuff on the berth next to it.

Shockwave sighed and didn’t bother to reply to such immature taunts, pulling out a datapad and typing out the beginning of a report, to Megatron. B, on the other hand, puffed out his chest. “That makes us the bots who are gonna kick your afts!”

_Us?_ Shockwave turned to B raising an optic ridge. _You’re the one working them up; I don’t want any involvement in this_.

“Hah! I bet your chubby little botfriend couldn’t stand a chance against me, let alone me and my bronze mech!” The tiny bot gave the brute a pat on his large chest smirking at B, whose face flushed as he narrowed his eyes at them.

Shockwave rolled his optics. "So, do you two want to introduce yourselves?"

The bigger of the two pointed to his bronze chest arrogance shining in his small optics. “I’m B-301 but my friends call me Bronze!” He flexed his muscles.

The smaller one simply huffed turning away.

“People call me Seawire,” he said, putting his hands on his hips.

Bronze picked up Seawire nuzzling him.

“But he’s my little Seaflower~,” he said, kissing Seawire’s helm, causing the smaller bot to giggle.

“Those still aren’t a thing Bronze,” he mumbled with a smile.

“Well, I’m Stretch and this is B,” Shockwave stated, not paying attention to them. He wasn’t here to socialize so it was probably for the best that he wouldn’t get along with most of the cadets.

Shockwave turned down his audials letting the others bicker and talk all they wanted as he continued typing. After what he assumed to be maybe 12.6 minutes or so, B grabbed his shoulder and began to shake him trying to get his attention.

Shockwave huffed turning his audials back to their normal settings. He turned around to ask the minibot what he was doing when he looked up to see the bot he knew to be Sentinel in the doorway. He got to his pedes and the others quickly followed.

Sentinel scanned over the young bots, his optics distant and cold as he crossed his arms. B quickly raised a servo to talk when Sentinel interrupted. “No need for serial codes. They’ll be replaced tomorrow, so just unpack your things for now. My assistant Cliffjumper will give you a tour when you’re ready.”

He left without so much as an introduction and the cadets all exchanged glances.

“Well, he seems to be excited,” Shockwave said blankly.

“Y'know, Stretch, you sound just as eager as he does,” B said with a chuckle.

“Well we can’t all be as hyper as you are,” Shockwave replied. His audials tried to perk up again as he heard B climb over his berth to peek over his shoulder.

“Can I help you?” Shockwave asked turning to B. The tiny minibot’s optics scanned the datapad he held. It was nothing but a summary of everything he'd seen since arriving in Iacon.

“Firstly, I’m not hyper, I’m fun, and secondly…” He paused, raising his hand to point at the datapad dramatically.

“What’s that?” B asked poking at the edge of the datapad.

“A report.”

“To who?”

“Myself.” Shockwave replied, smiling just a bit.

“But why?” B asked looking over to Shockwave.

He paused. “I just like to have a way to reflect on certain things.”

Well that was partly true. He did actually like making reports, for Megatron, or himself.

B tilted his helm, Shockwave sighed. “It just helps me remember details…”

B smiled. “Huh neat!”

B looked blankly at the datapad.

“You wanna read it?” Shockwave asked.

He held up the datapad to B’s face, but B blushed nervously waving it away. “Oh no. I'm not in a big, umm, reading mood…..” Shockwave clicked his tongue, a bit confused but he brushed it off. B gulped. “So, you like racing?”

Shockwave frowned. “I’m a crane B. I can’t exactly participate in it.”

B paused.

“Oh… right.” He chuckled nervously.

Seawire let out a loud groan “Are you two done yet? I wanna look around already!”

“Yeah, we wanna look around!” Bronze repeated.

“We were waiting for you slowpokes!” B said, hands on his hips as he glared at the other cadets.

Shockwave sighed. “If we’re all ready, then let’s go.”

The others all exchanged glances and B huffed sticking his glossa out to Seawire and Bronze before walking out, Shockwave and the other two following.

Cliffjumper was just outside the building. As he saw the cadets walking out he turned to them and smiled.

“Everyone set?” They nodded “Alright then, come along, I’ll show ya round.”

Cliffjumper was a red minibot, with horns much sharper and broader than B’s. He had grey markings and a thick pointy frame. He held a wide stance, as if getting ready to fight, and he was tense. His gaze was tired but friendly.

He guided them to a building right next to the berthrooms. It was just a bit smaller than the other buildings and he opened the doors allowing the cadets to step in.

Cyan lights coated the ceiling and rims of the interior. The rest of it was a deep Navy blue, with windows rimming the ceiling, allowing the stars of Iacon to be seen within. There were about 5 lockers on each side of the room with benches in front of them.

“This is mostly just storage but it’s also somewhere you can hang out that isn’t the berthroom.”

B began looking through the Lockers, most likely scanning them for anything he deemed ‘interesting’. Most of them were just full of supplies, however, so he quickly lost interest.

Cliffjumper was about to say something when suddenly he tensed. Tapping at his comlink, he mumbled something Shockwave couldn’t understand. He let out a sigh and looked back at the cadets “You’ll have to excuse me just a moment.”

He walked out, biting his lip with concern in his optics.

Shockwave felt sympathy graze his spark as the red bot left. He sighed and told himself to just shake it off. He’s on a mission; he mustn't forget that…

He turned around and his optics widened as he heard B squeal as he was shoved face-first into the locker he’d been scanning. Seawire and Bronze were snickering as they shoved him.

“We’re all peers here. Wouldn’t it make more sense to be kind to each other?” he asked, walking over to see what was going on more clearly, though he kept his distance. He wasn’t here to fight or embarrass himself.

“I don’t like his attitude.” Seawire sneered.

“Plus he’s ugly!” Bronze added. “Stretch! Help a mech out, will ya?”

B hissed, trying to claw at his attackers. Shockwave frowned.

“Okay, you’ve had your fun. If you don’t stop soon, Cliffjumper will come back and see what you’re doing. That’s not the first impression you want to make,” he said. Seawire and Bronze looked at each other, then, with a huff, they walked away to look around the building some more.

“Not what I had in mind, but thanks!” B chirped, pulling himself out of the locker.

“Why are your fingers like that?” Shockwave asked. He’d never realized it until now but B’s fingers were sharp, they looked like claws-- _well no_ , they _were_ claws.

B wiggled his fingers, staring at them, and then shrugged. “They just are.”

Shockwave frowned he’d seen plenty of clawed decepticons, _not_ so many clawed _Autobots_ … B was one strange bot.

"Is there something wrong with that? No one else in my batch had them, but I'd assumed they were normal..." B looked worried but Shockwave just shook his head.

"No, no it's fine I just hadn't seen them that's all..." His voice wasn't as confident as it should've been, but B didn’t seem to notice as he smiled at Shockwave.

Cliffjumper walked back in. His optics were wide in shock or maybe horror. He glanced at the door as if expecting someone to walk in, but when nothing happened, his gaze drifted to the floor.

Cliffjumper then tensed as he saw Shockwave staring at him and he quickly looked to the other cadets with a strict gaze. “Sorry about the interruption. Let’s get a move on now.”

All the cadets exchanged looks, then turned to stare at him curiously not moving.

“We’ve spent enough time here, come on.” he asserted, clearing his throat and turning around.

The cadets continued to glance at each other as they followed after him.

Cliffjumper showed them a couple of other places around the camp. There was a garage they had on grounds for storage, which Shockwave noted that he could hide in when it was time to report to Megatron and everybot was asleep.

The showers, which were very important of course, but also very slippery. Shockwave had assumed that’d be common sense, but B had only discovered that in the middle of trying to run in them, which ended with Bronze and Seawire laughing at him as B rubbed at an aching aft.

There were various places for training of course, though some of them required a full-grown mech to be supervising the training, but there were others they could use whenever they wanted to. But as eager as he was to learn more about this place and how the autobots train their young for battle, the cables in Shockwave’s stomach felt like they had tied into a knot when B boasted about how they’d use their skills to thrash ‘cons.

The Autobot cadets were all very eager and very excited. However, Cliffjumper seemed to be mostly nervous for the rest of the tour. Shockwave could only assume something bad had happened in another part of the camp, or maybe another part of the city, but that didn’t seem to be the case as they continued.

Cliffjumper had no problem speaking ill of the Decepticons and no problems showing them around, however, Shockwave caught him several times giving B nervous, or maybe even guilt-ridden, glances.

It was unnerving, to say the least...

Cliffjumper stepped into the berthrooms, turning to the cadets.

“And thus ends our tour, I’ll be talking to the sergeant about the plans for tomorrow, but if any of you need me just use my comm link.”

He wrote down a series of numbers on a piece of paper and thumbtacked it next to the door as he left.

Shockwave sighed sitting on his berth. B quickly scrambled to his side and sat down beside him. Shockwave laughed as blue optics looked up at him.

“Hello there,” he purred to the tiny autobot.

“Hello! What do we do now?” B asked, tilting his head.“

Recharge? It’s getting late and there’s not anything else we can really do.” Shockwave gestured to the other cadets who were already tucking into their separate berths.

B looked outside and frowned.

“But we’ve hardly done anything…” he whined slumping down onto the berth.

Shockwave smiled reassuringly. “It’s the first day B; we’ll do more tomorrow.”

B looked up as Shockwave got off his berth, grabbing the side of the blanket that coated it. He was about to continue talking, but Shockwave yanked the cloth out from under him, causing the tiny Autobot to fall on the ground. B huffed and narrowed his optics as he got up and walked to his berth.

“Good night, Stretch,” B mumbled, settling into his berth.

“Goodnight,” Shockwave replied. He paused and looked over to B, wanting to ask what he thought the whole thing with Cliffjumper was about, but B had already dozed off.

Shockwave sighed, laying on his bed and covering himself with the blanket. He just shook his head and told himself not to worry about Cliffjumper. It didn’t matter as long as it didn’t affect his mission. He set a timer in his processor so he could make a report to Megatron later and felt exhaustion crash over his frame.

Snuggling deeper into the blanket coating him, he struggled to get his mind off Cliffjumper. What had that bot said to him? He tried to think about it more, but his processor had decided it was too tired to continue. Excitement and fear of what was to come in the following cycles settled into a warm distant feeling as his optics closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay Not many notes here other than I suck at robot names and I nerfed Bulkhead from boot camp bc I just don't like how it characterized him.  
> Also ty to everyone who left kudos and commented on chapter 1! I've never published any of my writing so This was very nerve wracking but all the support really boosted my motivation to write more!


End file.
